~
“I need to…” Sarah was done looking up into his sexy eyes. She was done, for the moment, with the rush that she got every time that man grinned, or spoke, or growled … oh, she liked the growl … she needed to take her mind off of everything and concentrate on the mundane…
“Get to know me a little better,” Nathan offered and she snorted her contempt for that.
“I have a dead vampire aunt – two elderly witches, one of which is a mate to a horny old elder, an inn I have no idea what to do with, and couldn’t get guests if I wanted because I have resident vampires lurking, two Lycans, and…” she tossed up her hands in frustration and let gravity take them down to her sides again…
“Me, Sarah. You have me…” Nathan assured her.
“I don’t want you…” Sarah bit out, and then realised just how badly that sounded. “Not right now…”
“I told you I can wait, but you’re letting everything get on top of you…”
“Everything but you…” Chloe called from outside the door, and Nathan huffed in annoyance.
“Behave, woman,” Monty berated her.
“But it’s fun to be bad…” Chloe chuckled, and even that sounded musical to Sarah’s ears.
“I just want to go to bed, pull the duvet over my head, and stay there for a week or two…” Sarah said, turning away from him and starting towards the door…
“That’s encouraging…” Chloe called. “More chance of jumping her bones if she’s already in bed…”
“You’ve had such a lovely change of personality since you died,” Nathan growled in annoyance as he followed on his mate’s heels…
“Have I?” Chloe asked Monty.
“Yes, but we can work on it.”
“I’m grouchy when I’m hungry, and I’m always hungry.” Chloe shrugged, looking a little downcast.
“And I’m always horny, so we can kill two birds with one stone…” He grinned back, showing a little fang for his mate.
She brightened right up.
~
~
~
Angela had the feeling that Dorothy would be happy at the inn with Sarah. Leaving her behind wouldn’t make her happy, but it was better than dragging her to unknown pastures a second time.
She’d considered that they’d gotten lucky when they met Sarah and landed on their feet at the Inn. She didn’t think she’d be that lucky to run into a helpful witch again, but if she didn’t get away from Lark – then she just might end up falling for the big lug, and that felt even scarier than going back out into the big wide world alone.
If the worst came to the worst then she guessed that she could just end up at another home – waiting for the ancestors to claim her soul.
She didn’t like the idea of leaving her one true mate to his own devices – she was a witch, and she knew just what that could mean for the man and his wolf, but the older a male got, the less likely that he was to turn rogue – senile, but not rogue.
Angela had left Dorothy and Lark in the sun room to enjoy the last of the days rays as night closed in, under the guise of needing the bathroom, and she’d gone upstairs to pack a small bag and had left it under the coatrack by the front door for the ease of retrieving it when she got the chance to be on her way…
Perhaps Dorothy and Lark could even turn their liking for each other into something more when it became obvious that she wasn’t going to be returning … she kind of hoped so at any rate.
~
~
~
“Sarah, wait,” Nathan said.
It wasn’t hard to catch up to her once more. Even if he hadn’t been able to see her walking down the corridor and back into the kitchen, he could always have followed her scent. It was lodged in his memory and would never be forgotten.
“It’s starting to get dark, we’ve missed a late lunch and people need to eat, and you need to go back and check in with your pack…” Sarah said a little absently as she stalked to the refrigerator and started to pull out food…
“My pack are on the other side of the woods. If they need me they know where to find me. Samuel will make sure of that…” Nathan assured her…
“Don’t you have something to get back for…?”
“Like a mate and two point three pups…?” He teased her.
Sarah grimaced. That was one of her problems, and she couldn’t believe that she’d actually pushed it to the back of her mind with everything else that was going on.
She was his mate. It was obvious that there wasn’t anywhere that he needed to be that was more important for him until he’d wooed her… wooed her – it sounded so medieval, so noble – as if it belonged in a bodice ripping, epic novel rather than her life.
He would have made a good hero in a book, she, on the other hand, would have been a mess…
“How can you have two point three pups?” She turned her nose up at the thought, and he chuckled.
“I guess the point three one would be brewing…”
“Pup in the oven … oh, no, that sounds even worse.” She chuckled…
Nathan watched her. He liked the sound of her laughter. He liked the sparkling look of her eyes when she did it – he’d like to be able to bring her to laughter every day for the rest of their lives just so that he could watch her do it.
It bewitched him.
She bewitched him.
“Yes it does. You’re an evil woman to even think of it,” he teased and watched her soften even more.
“You started it with all your point three of a pup…” she was playful when she berated him that time and the light of amusement was still firmly within her eyes.
“Well, I want pups, but not a point three of one…” Nathan said, and she stopped in her tracks, arms filled with food, and stared open mouthed back at him.
Nathan could have kicked himself…
“Too soon?” He asked with a cheeky grin that sort of reached out and smacked her upside the back of the head…
“Yeah!” She breathed out in disbelief.
Then she took a couple of steps to the counter beside him and slowly let the food slide from her grasp onto the top.
“Sorry…”
“Timing is everything…” she said turning towards him.
Her eyebrows were reaching for her hairline and her eyes looked at him as if he was insane … and then all of a sudden; he took that one large step that brought her body into his space, wrapped an arm around her waist, and hoisted her the rest of the way against him.
Then he brought his lips down on hers…
She never saw it coming…